PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet 101/2001 - 20 September 2001
==================================
"Altruism and heroism. If not for these twin radiant badges
of our
humanity, there would be no us, and we know it. And so, when
their
vile opposite threatened to choke us into submission last
Tuesday, we
rallied them in quantities so great we surprised even ourselves.
Nothing
and nobody can fully explain the source of the emotional genius
that has
been everywhere on display. Politicians have cast it as evidence
of the
indomitable spirit of a rock-solid America; pastors have given
credit
to a more celestial source. And while biologists in no way claim
to have
discovered the key to human nobility, they do have their own spin
on
the subject. The altruistic impulse, they say, is a
nondenominational gift,
the birthright and defining characteristic of the human
species."
--Natalie Angier, The New York Times, 18 September 2001
"The attacks in New York and Washington are therefore no
more then a
warning to the United States and the Western world - a warning
meant to
terrorize these countries so much that they will not stand in the
way of
fundamentalist Islamic organizations as they expand their sphere
of
control. This warning is very clear: it is a warning of further
things to
come. Military retaliation against bin Laden and his supporters
is
therefore necessary, but not sufficient. Even more important is
to
establish fundamental premises, which will, once and for all,
create the
necessary tools for real and effective international cooperation
against terrorism. These tools should include a basic moral
principle that
the deliberate targeting of civilians for the purposes of
achieving
political aims - in other words, terrorism - is never justified
or
legitimate, regardless of the goals or grievances of the
perpetrators. This principle must be enshrined in international
legislation
and convention. Then, based on this principle, all sane states
must
declare and accept that counter- terrorism is the primary
interest
for all states, beyond any other economic, political or
ideological
interest."
--Boaz Ganor, International Policy Institute for
Counter-Terrorism, 16 September 2001
(1) VETERAN SPACECRAFT ATTEMPTS TO EARN EXTRA CREDIT AT COMET
Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
(2) 'AGED AND WOUNDED' PROBE PLANS DARING FLYBY SATURDAY
Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
(3) KUIPER BELT PANEL FOR THE PLANETARY DECADAL STUDY
EKOnews <EKOnews@boulder.swri.edu>
(4) SUN WAS A HOT YOUNG STAR
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
(5) PERMIAN EXTINCTION IMPACT
Michael Paine <mpaine@tpgi.com.au>
(6) GRAVITY HELPED TERRORISTS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS
Space.com, 19 September 2001
(7) SEISMOLOGICAL OBSERVATION OF IMPACTS AND COLLAPSES AT WORLD
TRADE CENTER
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
(8) OF ALTRUISM, HEROISM AND EVOLUTION'S GIFTS IN THE FACE OF
TERROR
The New York Times, 18 September 2001
(9) FUNDAMENTAL PREMISES FOR FIGHTING TERRORISM
The International Policy Institute for
Counter-Terrorism
(10) CATASTROPHE/APOCALYPSE COURSE AT BARD COLLEGE
Benny J Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk>
(11) ARTHUR C CLARKE ON TERRORIST ATTACKS: "NEVER EVER GIVE
UP!"
Roger Launius <rlaunius@hq.nasa.gov>
(12) TERRORIST ACTS WILL UNITE WORLD
Sergio German Wagner Stinco <sergiowagner@yahoo.com>
(13) SOLEMN TIMES AND RENEWED VOGOR
Andy Smith <astrosafe@yahoo.com>
(14) NATURE ISN'T MALICIOUS, BUT SHE'S A TRICKY LITTLE DEVIL
David Fisher <dfisher@miami.edu>
(15) TECHNOLOGY & AIRCRAFT SAFETY
James D. Perry <AJDPerry@aol.com>
===============
(1) VETERAN SPACECRAFT ATTEMPTS TO EARN EXTRA CREDIT AT COMET
>From Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
Dolores Beasley/Donald Savage
Headquarters,
Washington
September 18, 2001
(Phone: 202/358-1547)
Martha J. Heil
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0850)
RELEASE: 01-184
VETERAN SPACECRAFT ATTEMPTS TO EARN EXTRA CREDIT AT COMET
Like a slugger trying to pile up extra home runs after breaking
the world
record, a venerable NASA spacecraft already famed for bringing
science
fiction's ion-engine technology to life is preparing to fly
daringly close
to a comet on Saturday, Sept. 22.
Deep Space 1, which has already completed a highly successful
mission
testing a number of advanced spacecraft technologies, will
attempt to pass
inside the mostly unknown environment
just 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles) from the nucleus of
comet Borrelly
at 6:30 p.m. EDT (3:30 p.m. PDT) on Sept. 22.
"It has been a tremendously rewarding effort for the small
Deep Space 1 team
to keep this aged and wounded bird aloft," said Dr. Marc
Rayman, project
manager of Deep Space 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena,
Calif. "Its mission to test new technologies is already
highly successful
and any science we get at the comet will be a terrific
bonus."
By the time of the flyby Deep Space 1 will have completed three
times its
intended lifetime in space and its primary mission to test ion
propulsion
and 11 other high-risk, advanced technologies in September 1999.
NASA
extended the mission, taking advantage of the ion propulsion and
other
systems to target a chancy but exciting encounter with Borrelly.
The spacecraft may tell us more about comets and their place in
the solar
system. The robotic explorer will attempt to investigate the
comet's
environment when it tries to fly through the cloud of gas and
dust
surrounding the comet's nucleus, known as the coma.
The risks involved in gathering science data are very high, so
results of
this latest venture are unpredictable. The spacecraft will be
traveling
through a cloud of gas, dust and comet pieces to collect its
data. Since
Deep Space 1 wasn't built to go to a comet, it does not carry a
protective
shield. "We expect to be hit by debris from the comet, and
at 16.5
kilometers per second (about 36,900 mph), even a tiny particle
might prove
fatal," said Rayman. "But this is an adventure too
exciting to pass up."
If all goes well, scientists will use the comet chaser's
measurements to
find out the nature of Borrelly's surface and to measure and
identify the
gases coming from the comet. The spacecraft will also attempt to
measure the
interaction of solar wind with the comet, a process that leads to
formation
of the beautiful tail.
Borrelly makes a good target for study now, as it is just 1.34
astronomical
units (about 200 million kilometers or 125 million miles) from
the Sun --
the closest it will get for
another seven years. The Sun's heat will make the gases escaping
from the
nucleus flow faster and more thickly, so they will be easier to
study. The
icy nucleus and the spacecraft will flash past each other at 16.5
kilometers
per second (more than 36,900 miles per hour).
The flight team is also hoping that Deep Space 1 will have enough
gas to get
to the comet. The long-lived spacecraft keeps itself pointed
correctly by
firing small thrusters fueled by hydrazine gas. When the
hydrazine runs out,
Deep Space 1 will be unable to keep itself pointed correctly and
the
spacecraft will die. The flight team has an estimate of how much
gas is
left, but a few hours' worth of gas could make all the difference
in the
comet encounter.
As it approaches the center of the coma, the spacecraft will face
its
greatest challenge: to obtain pictures and infrared measurements
of the
nucleus. Deep Space 1 can't tell exactly
where the nucleus is or what it will look like. The craft will
have to
locate the nucleus on its own and try to point the camera toward
it as it
streaks by.
In late 1999, Deep Space 1 lost its star tracker, which helps
determine the
spacecraft's orientation. Faced with what could have been a
mission-terminating injury, the controllers performed a
spectacular
ultra-long-distance rescue. They reconfigured the spacecraft to
use the
photographic camera to orient itself by the stars around it.
The camera cannot align the spacecraft and snap photos of
Borrelly at the
same time. Instead, Deep Space 1 will have to rely on its
fiber-optic
gyroscopes to help maintain its orientation. But the gyros are
not accurate
enough by themselves, so engineers designed complex new software
to help the
camera stay pointed at the comet's nucleus during the critical
few minutes
that the probe will be close enough to try to get a view of it.
Deep Space 1 was launched in October 1998 as part of NASA's New
Millennium
Program, which is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space
Science,
Washington. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena
manages JPL
for NASA. More information can be found online at:
http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/
===========
(2) 'AGED AND WOUNDED' PROBE PLANS DARING FLYBY SATURDAY
>From Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasa.gov>
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/ds1_rendezvous_010916.html
'Aged and Wounded' Probe Plans Daring Flyby Saturday
By Robert Roy Britt and Robin Lloyd
space.com
16 September 2001
NASA's Deep Space 1 robotic probe, which has already completed
all of its
mission goals by proving a dozen futuristic technologies, will
attempt to
tackle one last task later this week in a dramatic pass through a
cloud of
dust and gas surrounding a comet.
The tricky photo and science opportunity, billed by NASA as a
"risky bonus
mission" to see the heart of the comet, is slated for 6:30
p.m. EDT
Saturday, Sept. 22.
The effort may well fail.
"This is a high-risk encounter and the encounter simply may
not work," said
Marc Rayman, project manager for Deep Space 1. "We're of
course trying hard
to make it work but we've got an aged and wounded bird up there.
We're
pushing it far, far, far beyond what it was meant to do."
Full story here:
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/ds1_rendezvous_010916.html
================
(3) KUIPER BELT PANEL FOR THE PLANETARY DECADAL STUDY
>From EKOnews <EKOnews@boulder.swri.edu>
This email is to encourage your involvement in drafting a white
paper on
Kuiper belt research for the Decadal Study. We believe that this
area of
research will be particularly important in the coming years and
thus should
have a significant place in the Decadal Study. This is unlikely
to occur or to have the kind of focus we'd like to see if our
community does
not make itself known to the powers-that-be and offer guidance to
them.
We'd like our report to convey the importance of Kuiper Belt
studies over
the next decade, and stress the need for a sensible balance
between
discovery, follow-up, physical observations, laboratory studies,
and
dynamical studies. Each of those requires different classes
of telescope or
other facilities. We believe that a balanced approach is needed
in funding
future studies and facilities. Specific points we make could
potentially
influence funding decisions for many years to come, so we need to
consider
our priorities carefully. For example, it could be
extremely useful to
obtain a dedicated 3 m class telescope (or much more time on
existing
telescopes) for follow-up astrometry, since we're losing so many
objects
soon after their discovery.
We need to move rapidly, if we're going to get an abstract
submitted in time
for the DPS meeting (there will be a special poster session for
Decadal
Study contributions by each panel). In addition to a poster
presentation at
DPS, the primary product of our effort is to be a white paper,
which to be
useful must be completed before the final meeting of the
Primitive Bodies
Panel, which is in December (we're a sub-panel of them).
Realistically, our
white paper needs to exist, at least in draft form, by the time
of the DPS
meeting, so its outlines can be presented in poster form.
Will Grundy and
Hal Levison have agreed to coordinate integration of input for
the abstract,
poster, and white paper. But rather than sending input directly
to them, it
would be preferable to post text at the web site (see below)
where others
can comment on it, add to it, etc.
It should be fairly straightforward to produce a presentation
expressing the
need to balance several different threads if we can bring
together text from
people active in specific areas of Kuiper Belt work (e.g.,
discovery,
dynamics, physical studies, astrometry, etc.). We strongly
encourage anyone
willing to contribute such a section to step forward and take the
lead on
it. Even if you are too busy to take the lead in writing a
section, please
let us know what you think. The best way to do this is
through the panel
web site at:
http://www.aas.org/~dps/decadal/community_panels.html
(look under open
panels). If you have already joined, great! If not, we
encourage you to do
so. Let's make our voices heard.
Current members of the Kuiper belt community panel:
Will Grundy
Hal Levison
Joel Parker
Rachel Mastrapa
Alice Quillen
Joe Hahn
John Cooper
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[This e-mail was sent using the distribution list for the Distant
EKOs
newsletter. I felt this one-time mailing would be of sufficient
interest to
the Kuiper belt community and, due to the impending deadlines,
could not be
delayed until the next issue of the Newsletter. Please send all
additional
communication to the decadal survey community panel; any e-mail
sent to this
EKOnews address not get forwarded to the panel. --- jp ]
=============
(4) SUN WAS A HOT YOUNG STAR
>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
[Extracted from inScight, Academic Press
http://www.academicpress.com/inscight/09172001/grapha.htm]
Monday, 17 September 2001, 5 pm PST
Sun Was a Hot Young Star
By GOVERT SCHILLING
When the sun was just 1 million years old -- 1/4600th its current
age -- it
was brighter than it is today. But an elaborate new computer
simulation
indicates that the young sun was even hotter and brighter than
astronomers
have thought. If the results hold up, they could change the way
scientists
date young stars.
In its early years, the sun was still a protostar -- a ball of
gas in which
the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium was just about to
start. It's no
surprise that this protostar shined more brightly than today's
sun, because
its contracting gases temporarily released more energy than
fusion does now.
To arrive at the new estimate, Günther Wuchterl of the Max
Planck Institute
of Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, and colleagues
used a
special-purpose supercomputer called GRAPE (Science, 13 July, p.
201). They
simulated the entire star-forming process, starting with a
fragmenting
interstellar molecular cloud and continuing through the formation
of
protostellar "embryos" and the accretion of gas onto
the young protostar.
Whereas current evolutionary models peg the young sun's
luminosity at just
twice the present value, the new simulations suggest it was four
times as
bright as it is now and that its surface was 500 degrees hotter,
the team
reports in a paper accepted for publication in Astrophysical
Journal
Letters.
Most earlier simulations treated each sun-spawning step
"separately and,
hence, inconsistently," says theoretician Adam Burrows of
the University of
Arizona in Tucson. "For 40 years, the astrophysics community
has been
seeking a comprehensive and predictive theory of star formation.
This new
work is a big step toward that goal."
Astronomers deduce the mass and age of a young star from its
luminosity and
surface temperature, on the assumption that young protostars get
fainter
with age. But if protostars start out brighter than current
models predict,
their ages may well be underestimated, Wuchterl says.
© 2001 The American Association for the Advancement of Science
==============
(5) PERMIAN EXTINCTION IMPACT
>From Michael Paine <mpaine@tpgi.com.au>
Dear Benny
There are two unrelated items of interest to CCNet at:
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010920/010920-6.html
and
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/10/MN163698.DTL
(Threat of killer waves)
Brimstone pickled Permian
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010920/010920-6.html
Two hundred million years before the dinosaurs' demise another
meteorite
impact may have devastated life on Earth.
18 September 2001
PHILIP BALL
Two hundred and fifty million years ago, life on Earth nearly
ceased. A
giant meteorite, six times larger than the one that did away with
the
dinosaurs almost two hundred million years later, may have caused
the
massive extinction at the end of the Permian period, researchers
now
suggest.
Kunio Kaiho of Tohoku University, Japan, and his colleagues have
found
evidence in southern China that a massive impact converted huge
amounts of
solid sulphur into sulphur-rich gases1.
The released sulphur could have consumed 20-40 per cent of the
atmosphere's
oxygen, and generated enough acid rain to raise the acidity of
the ocean's
surface waters temporarily to that of lemon juice. Ocean life
would have
been pickled.
The fossil record shows that 95 per cent of all species
disappeared in the
mass extinction that ended the Permian period. The event was more
dramatic
even than the perishing of 70 per cent of species - including the
dinosaurs
- at the boundary of the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods 65
million years
ago. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction is generally blamed on a
meteorite
impact in what is now the Gulf of Mexico.
For many years, the Permian extinction was thought to have been
more
gradual, perhaps resulting from slow environmental changes. The
formation of
vast plains of volcanic rock called the Siberian Traps, some
researchers
suggest, released gases that either boiled or froze the Earth,
through the
greenhouse effect or the reflection of sunlight from dust-like
particles.
Other evidence points to the Permian extinction having been
abrupt,
happening within 8,000-100,000 years - a timescale that
implicates an
impacting comet or asteroid. This idea is supported by the
discovery earlier
this year2 of fullerenes, cage-like carbon molecules, in
sediments from the
end of the Permian. The molecules contained atoms of rare gases
such as
helium, implying that they came from a meteorite.
The meteorite could have been up to 60km across
Now Kaiho's team has found sulphate in end-Permian limestone,
marl and shale
rocks formed from shallow sea-floor sediments. The rocks also
have a
nickel-rich layer, which could have been carried by an impacting
meteorite.
Moreover, in the nickel-rich layer, the researchers detect a
sudden change
in the relative amounts of different sulphur isotopes (whose
atoms have
slightly different masses).
If a giant meteorite impact vaporized a large area of
sulphur-containing
rock where it struck the seabed, it would probably have ejected
the lighter
of sulphur's two common natural isotopes into the air, changing
the isotope
ratio of the remaining rocks.
>From the size of isotope ratio shift, Kaiho's group estimates
that the
meteorite could have been up to 60 kilometres across. The
Cretaceous-Tertiary meteorite was probably less than 10 km
across.
References
Kaiho, K. et al. End-Permian catastrophe by a bolide impact:
evidence of a
gigantic release of sulfur from the mantle. Geology, 29, 815 -
818, (2001).
Becker, L., Poreda, R. J., Hunt, A. G., Bunch, T. E. 7 Rampino,
M. Impact
event at the Permian-Triassic boundary: evidence from
extraterrestrial noble
gases in fullerenes. Science, 291, 1530 - 1533, (2001).
© Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001
===========
(6) GRAVITY HELPED TERRORISTS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS
>From Space.com, 19 September 2001
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/wtc_science_010919.html
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
Though terrorists triggered the collapse of the World Trade
Center's Twin
Towers, much of the energy -- calculated by a physicist to have
been at
least 2 percent that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima --
was supplied
by Nature's most ubiquitous force: gravity.
The force that keeps our feet on the ground and holds planets in
orbit
swiftly fueled a runaway momentum that created thundering impacts
so great
they were detected by equipment designed to monitor earthquakes.
Meanwhile, some scientists have suggested that even without the
searing
fire, the structural integrity of the buildings might have been
compromised
enough by the planes' impacts to cause the towers' ultimate
collapse anyway.
Momentum builds
In analyzing the disaster, most engineers and architects assume
that the top
floors gave way when fire melted the steel structures that
support the
towers. The resulting collapse of the upper floors triggered a
chain
reaction that few buildings of any height could have withstood,
several
experts said.
"Ultimately it was gravity," said Jon Magnusson,
chairman and chief
executive of Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire, a Seattle firmed
that did
the original structural engineering work on the towers. "But
it was the fire
that defeated all the buildings' defenses against gravity."
Frank Moscatelli, a physics professor at Swarthmore College in
Pennsylvania,
calculated the total energy released in the disaster based on the
amount of
jet fuel aboard the 767s, their speed at impact, and the weight
of the
buildings.
"The airplanes destroyed the upper 20 floors,"
Moscatelli told SPACE.com.
"Gravity did the rest."
"Once the upper floors began to fall, they gained
momentum," Moscatelli
explained. "As each floor collapses, more weight smashes
into the floor
below, and the momentum builds tremendously and rapidly."
Mathematically, the momentum is a function of the buildings'
height and
weight, along with the acceleration of gravity. Moscatelli said
the total
energy released by the impacts, explosions and collapses was
between 1/50th
and 1/20th that of the Hiroshima bomb.
Shaking the ground
When the crumbling towers thudded to the ground, they created
ground tremors
equal to earthquakes of magnitude 2.1 and 2.3, as measured by a
seismic
station in Palisades, New York, 21 miles (34 kilometers) north of
Manhattan.
These would be small numbers for earthquakes, not likely to be
felt by
anyone, since an earthquake is typically centered miles below the
surface,
its energy radiating out and dissipating over great distances.
But the
energy from the collapse of the towers was focused in a very
small area,
making it remarkable that the events were detected at all outside
lower
Manhattan.
Much of this energy went into destroying the buildings themselves
and
generating the cloud of debris.
More surprising, even the impacts of the airliners shook the
ground,
registering with the equivalent of earthquakes with magnitudes of
0.7 and
0.9.
Magnusson, the structural engineer, said that if fire had not
brought the
buildings down, a strong wind might have eventually toppled them.
"If there was no fire, in my opinion the buildings would be
standing today,"
Magnusson said in a telephone interview. "And they would
stand until there
was a significant wind storm."
The Twin Towers, like most skyscrapers, were designed to handle
hurricane-force winds. But all of this wind resistance is built
into the
exterior of the buildings, Magnusson explained. The holes carved
into the
side of the buildings by the impacts "would have been a
problem for the wind
resisting system," he said.
Mir Ali, a professor of architecture at the University of
Illinois,
disagreed. He said that while the gaping holes would have caused
the
buildings to sway more in the wind, they would likely have
withstood the
pressure. In any event, the holes could have been beefed up, he
said,
assuming no big storms arrived before builders had time.
Other possible damage
Another scientist suggested that the building might have had
other
structural damage, something that might never be determined from
the rubble
of the disaster.
The impact of the hijacked jets could have created a vibration,
or
oscillation, in the buildings, said Arthur Lerner-Lam, Associate
Director
for geology and geophysics at Columbia University's
Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory, which reported the seismic observations.
All tall buildings can oscillate in the wind, a factor taken into
account by
architects.
Lerner-Lam said that the vibrations set in motion early in the
morning on
Sept. 11 would likely have been at a higher frequency than those
caused by
wind. He said that it's possible, though speculative to say so
given scant
evidence, that the higher frequency might have damaged the
building to the
extent that it would have ultimately toppled.
Some eyewitness reports told of what appeared to be buckling in
walls below
the level of the fire, Lerner-Lam said.
He described the potential vibration as akin to a ringing bell.
The initial
ringing would have damped out quickly. But if large enough, it
could have
left permanent damage. In such a scenario, the steel support
beams would
behave like plastic, Lerner-Lam explained: Bend them a little,
they spring
back. Bend them further, they stay bent. Bend them enough, they
break.
Both Magnusson and Ali said they doubted this scenario.
"Oscillations can damage a building," Magnusson said.
"But it would have
revealed itself in the first few minutes."
The south tower collapsed 56 minutes after being struck. The
north tower
collapsed 1 hour and 40 minutes after impact.
Designing the future
Still, several engineers say the construction of the buildings,
in
particular their combustibility, contributed to their demise.
Each tower was supported primarily by a series of steel columns
built into
the exteriors, 61 on each side. These pillars support their own
weight and
half the weight of the floors, Magnusson said. A cluster of
columns at the
center did heavier lifting, supporting themselves, half the
weight of the
floors, and all of the elevators and other mechanical systems.
Steel trusses tied the two sets of columns together, providing
reinforcement.
Engineers aren't sure if the central columns were compromised in
the fires.
But regardless, an important question has emerged: Can future
buildings be
designed to survive similar attacks?
Ali, the University of Illinois architecture professor, said
improvements in
design can be made. Using less combustible materials on floors
and walls
would slow the spread of fires, allowing for more effective
evacuations.
Structurally, concrete is less vulnerable to fire than glass and
steel, Ali
said, and designers will have to consider thicker external
structures.
When the World Trade Center was built, in the 1970s, concrete was
too heavy
to be a practical material for a 110-story building. More
recently, stronger
types of concrete have been developed, and steel-reinforced
concrete is
increasingly the material of choice for skyscrapers.
But future design changes will be limited by cost. To make a
building truly
terrorist-resistant, it would have to be built like a nuclear
plant, Ali
said, so that an airliner could not penetrate the exterior and a
fire could
not spread.
"Huge concrete walls" would be required, Ali said.
"Cost-wise, it is
impractical."
Copyright 2001, Space.com
============
(7) SEISMOLOGICAL OBSERVATION OF IMPACTS AND COLLAPSES AT WORLD
TRADE CENTER
>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
Fact Sheet
SEISMOLOGICAL OBSERVATION OF IMPACTS AND COLLAPSES AT WORLD TRADE
CENTER
Prepared by:
Seismology Group
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Palisades NY 10964
Version of 9/14/01
Seismograph stations in southern New York, northern New Jersey,
western
Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, operated by the Lamont-Doherty
Earth
Observatory of Columbia University, recorded the collapse of each
of the
towers of the World Trade Center on Tuesday morning September 11
and the
subsequent collapse of 7 World Trade Center later that afternoon.
The
closest station, at Palisades, New York, is located 21 miles (34
km) north
of lower Manhattan in Rockland County. This station also
registered the
impacts of the two airliners that crashed into the towers.
The signals generated by the collapsing North and South towers
were much
larger than those from the two airliner impacts. The signals
generated by
the collapse of Building 7, however, were smaller than those of
the
impacts. In addition, many smaller signals were registered at
Palisades
throughout the rest of the day that may have originated from the
further
collapse of the Twin Towers and the fall of walls and other
debris in the
surrounding area.
The Palisades recordings of the Twin Tower collapses were
comparable in size
to the signals from a small earthquake of seismic magnitude 2.4
that was
felt in the east side of Manhattan and in the western parts of
Queens
earlier this year, on January 17.
The seismic signals from the five events on 11 September differed
from a
small earthquake in that they were richer in low-frequency energy
and poorer
in high-frequency energy. These differences can be attributed to
the short
time duration of the fault rupture responsible for the earthquake
as
compared to the long and complex collapse of the buildings. The
seismic
waves from the five World Trade Center events resemble those
produced by the
collapse of a salt mine south of Rochester, in 1994.
The catastrophic events at the World Trade Center, as might be
expected,
produced much larger seismic effects than the bombing of the
World Trade
Center in 1993. The seismic effects of the collapses are
comparable to the
explosions at a gasoline tank farm near Newark on January 7,
1983, which
were detected up to 130 miles away.
The seismographic stations are part of the Lamont-Doherty
Cooperative
Seismographic Network, which is operated in conjunction with
several other
institutions and is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey under
the
National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program. As part of its
agreement with
the USGS, Lamont-Doherty makes this data available upon request
without
restriction.
Preliminary measurements made by Lamont-Doherty analysts are
summarized in
the Table below:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information Based on Seismic Waves recorded at Palisades New York
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Event
origin time
(EDT)
Magnitude Duration
(hours:minutes:seconds) (equivalent seismic)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impact 1 at North Tower
08:46:26+/-1
0.9 12 seconds
Impact 2 at South Tower
09:02:54+/-2
0.7 6
seconds
Collapse 1, South Tower
09:59:04+/-1
2.1 10 seconds
Collapse 2, North Tower
10:28:31+/-1
2.3 8
seconds
Collapse 3, Building 7
17:20:33+/-1
0.6 18 seconds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
More information [incl. seismogram traces] may be obtained on the
World Wide
Web at:
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/LCSN/Eq/20010911_wtc.html
For further information contact:
Won Young Kim, wykim@ldeo.columbia.edu
Jeremiah Armitage, jha@ldeo.columbia.edu
John Armbruster, armb@ldeo.columbia.edu
Klaus Jacob, jacob@ldeo.columbia.edu
Arthur Lerner-Lam, lerner@ldeo.columbia.edu
Paul Richards, richards@ldeo.columbia.edu
Lynn R. Sykes, sykes@ldeo.columbia.edu
Jia-Kang Xie, xie@ldeo.columbia.edu
=============
(8) OF ALTRUISM, HEROISM AND EVOLUTION'S GIFTS IN THE FACE OF
TERROR
>From The New York Times, 18 September 2001
By NATALIE ANGIER
For the wordless, formless, expectant citizens of tomorrow, here
are some
postcards of all that matters today:
Minutes after terrorists slam jet planes into the towers of the
World Trade
Center, streams of harrowed humanity crowd the emergency
stairwells, heading
in two directions. While terrified employees scramble down,
toward exit
doors and survival, hundreds of New York firefighters, each laden
with 70 to
100 pounds of lifesaving gear, charge upward, never to be seen
again.
As the last of four hijacked planes advance toward an unknown but
surely
populated destination, passengers huddle together and plot
resistance
against their captors, an act that may explain why the plane
fails to reach
its target, crashing instead into an empty field outside
Pittsburgh.
Hearing of the tragedy whose dimensions cannot be charted or
absorbed, tens
of thousands of people across the nation storm their local
hospitals and
blood banks, begging for the chance to give blood, something of
themselves
to the hearts of the wounded - and the heart of us all - beating
against the
void.
Altruism and heroism. If not for these twin radiant badges of our
humanity,
there would be no us, and we know it. And so, when their vile
opposite
threatened to choke us into submission last Tuesday, we rallied
them in
quantities so great we surprised even ourselves.
Nothing and nobody can fully explain the source of the emotional
genius that
has been everywhere on display. Politicians have cast it as
evidence of the
indomitable spirit of a rock-solid America; pastors have given
credit to a
more celestial source. And while biologists in no way claim to
have
discovered the key to human nobility, they do have their own spin
on the
subject. The altruistic impulse, they say, is a nondenominational
gift, the
birthright and defining characteristic of the human species.
As they see it, the roots of altruistic behavior far predate Homo
sapiens,
and that is why it seems to flow forth so readily once tapped.
Recent
studies that model group dynamics suggest that a spirit of
cooperation will
arise in nature under a wide variety of circumstances.
"There's a general trend in evolutionary biology toward
recognizing that
very often the best way to compete is to cooperate," said
Dr. Barbara Smuts,
a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, who
has published
papers on the evolution of altruism. "And that, to me, is a
source of some
solace and comfort."
Moreover, most biologists concur that the human capacity for
language and
memory allows altruistic behavior - the desire to give, and to
sacrifice for
the sake of others - to flourish in measure far beyond the
cooperative
spirit seen in other species.
With language, they say, people can learn of individuals they
have never met
and feel compassion for their suffering, and honor and even
emulate their
heroic deeds. They can also warn one another of any selfish
cheaters or
malign tricksters lurking in their midst.
"In a large crowd, we know who the good guys are, and we can
talk about, and
ostracize, the bad ones," said Dr. Craig Packer, a professor
of ecology and
evolution at the University of Minnesota. "People are very
concerned about
their reputation, and that, too, can inspire us to be
good."
Oh, better than good.
"There's a grandness in the human species that is so
striking, and so
profoundly different from what we see in other animals," he
added. "We are
an amalgamation of families working together. This is what
civilization is
derived from."
At the same time, said biologists, the very conditions that
encourage
heroics and selflessness can be the source of profound barbarism
as well.
"Moral behavior is often a within-group phenomenon,"
said Dr. David Sloan
Wilson, a professor of biology at the State University of New
York at
Binghamton. "Altruism is practiced within your group, and
often turned off
toward members of other groups."
The desire to understand the nature of altruism has occupied
evolutionary
thinkers since Charles Darwin, who was fascinated by the apparent
existence
of altruism among social insects. In ant and bee colonies,
sterile female
workers labor ceaselessly for their queen, and will even die for
her when
the nest is threatened. How could such seeming selflessness
evolve, when it
is exactly those individuals that are behaving altruistically
that fail to
breed and thereby pass their selfless genes along?
By a similar token, human soldiers who go to war often are at the
beginning
of their reproductive potential, and many are killed before
getting the
chance to have children. Why don't the stay-at-homes simply
outbreed the
do-gooders and thus bury the altruistic impulse along with the
casualties of
combat?
The question of altruism was at least partly solved when the
British
evolutionary theorist William Hamilton formulated the idea of
inclusive
fitness: the notion that individuals can enhance their
reproductive success
not merely by having young of their own, but by caring for their
genetic
relatives as well. Among social bees and ants, it turns out, the
sister
workers are more closely related to one another than parents
normally are to
their offspring; thus it behooves the workers to care more about
current and
potential sisters than to fret over their sterile selves.
The concept of inclusive fitness explains many brave acts
observed in
nature. Dr. Richard Wrangham, a primatologist at Harvard, cites
the example
of the red colobus monkey. When they are being hunted by
chimpanzees, the
male monkeys are "amazingly brave," Dr. Wrangham said.
"As the biggest and
strongest members of their group, they undoubtedly could escape
quicker than
the others." Instead, the males jump to the front,
confronting the
chimpanzee hunters while the mothers and offspring jump to
safety. Often,
the much bigger chimpanzees pull the colobus soldiers off by
their tails and
slam them to their deaths.
Their courageousness can be explained by the fact that colobus
monkeys live
in multimale, multifemale groups in which the males are almost
always
related. So in protecting the young monkeys, the adult males are
defending
their kin.
Yet, as biologists are learning, there is more to cooperation and
generosity
than an investment in one's nepotistic patch of DNA. Lately, they
have
accrued evidence that something like group selection encourages
the
evolution of traits beneficial to a group, even when members of
the group
are not related.
In computer simulation studies, Dr. Smuts and her colleagues
modeled two
types of group-living agents that would behave like herbivores:
one that
would selfishly consume all the food in a given patch before
moving on, and
another that would consume resources modestly rather than
greedily, thus
allowing local plant food to regenerate.
Researchers had assumed that cooperators could collaborate with
genetically
unrelated cooperators only if they had the cognitive capacity to
know
goodness when they saw it.
But the data suggested otherwise. "These models showed that
under a wide
range of simulated environmental conditions you could get
selection for
prudent, cooperative behavior," Dr. Smuts said, even in the
absence of
cognition or kinship. "If you happened by chance to get good
guys together,
they remained together because they created a mutually beneficial
environment."
This sort of win-win principle, she said, could explain all sorts
of
symbiotic arrangements, even among different species - like the
tendency of
baboons and impalas to associate together because they use each
other's
warning calls.
Add to this basic mechanistic selection for cooperation the human
capacity
to recognize and reward behaviors that strengthen the group - the
tribe, the
state, the church, the platoon - and selflessness thrives and
multiplies.
So, too, does the need for group identity. Classic so-called
minimal group
experiments have shown that when people are gathered together and
assigned
membership in arbitrary groups, called, say, the Greens and the
Reds, before
long the members begin expressing amity for their fellow Greens
or Reds and
animosity toward those of the wrong "color."
"Ancestral life frequently consisted of intergroup
conflict," Dr. Wilson of
SUNY said. "It's part of our mental heritage."
Yet he does not see conflict as inevitable. "It's been shown
pretty well
that where people place the boundary between us and them is
extremely
flexible and strategic," he said. "It's possible to
widen the moral circle,
and I'm optimistic enough to believe it can be done on a
worldwide scale."
Ultimately, though, scientists acknowledge that the evolutionary
framework
for self-sacrificing acts is overlaid by individual choice. And
it is there,
when individual firefighters or office workers or airplane
passengers choose
the altruistic path that science gives way to wonder.
Dr. James J. Moore, a professor of anthropology at the University
of
California at San Diego, said he had studied many species,
including many
different primates. "We're the nicest species I know,"
he said. "To see
those guys risking their lives, climbing over rubble on the
chance of
finding one person alive, well, you wouldn't find baboons doing
that." The
horrors of last week notwithstanding, he said, "the overall
picture to come
out about human nature is wonderful."
"For every 50 people making bomb threats now to
mosques," he said, "there
are 500,000 people around the world behaving just the way we
hoped they
would, with empathy and expressions of grief. We are amazingly
civilized."
True, death-defying acts of heroism may be the province of the
few. For the
rest of us, simple humanity will do.
Copyright 2001, The New York Yimes
=============
(9) FUNDAMENTAL PREMISES FOR FIGHTING TERRORISM
>From The International Policy Institute for
Counter-Terrorism, 16 September
2001
http://www.ict.org.il/
By Boaz Ganor
ICT Executive Director
It seems more and more certain that cells of Afghan veterans,
under the
leadership of Osama bin Laden, were behind the horrifying terror
attacks in
New York and Washington, D.C. last Tuesday. Today, many Americans
are asking
themselves what can and should be done in retaliation against the
terrorist
organizations, their supporters, and the nations that harbor
them. Suggested
courses of action range from the restrained - a one-time pinpoint
strike -
to a huge offensive attack against bin Laden's bases and against
the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan which shelters him. Such an attack would
entail
enormous difficulties: from gathering the necessary intelligence
to the
planning and execution of a large-scale operation in very hostile
terrain.
But even if the attack succeeds - even if bin Laden is arrested
or killed,
and his al-Qaida organization dealt a devastating blow - even so,
it is
likely that nothing will really be solved.
Bin Laden's operatives and supporters are many, and include the
Afghan
veterans and their colleagues from other Islamic fundamentalist
organizations, from numerous Arab and Moslem states. All of these
elements
have joined together to form the "International Islamic
Front against the
Jews and the Crusaders," an umbrella organization created by
bin Laden in
order to coordinate their activity. These supporters are not
limited to any
one country, and cannot be easily identified and neutralized; and
they will
probably do their outmost to take revenge against America and its
allies for
any attack on bin Laden. This, of course, is not to say that the
United
States should refrain from using military measures in order to
retaliate
against bin Laden and his supporters. But this military operation
will not
be enough.
The attack in New York and Washington is the beginning of a
cultural-religious war: a war between fundamentalist Islam and
the rest of
the world - both liberal-democratic countries and moderate Arab
and Moslem
regimes. Bin Laden and his followers regard America as their main
enemy
because it is America that leads the Western and democratic
world, and
supports the moderate Arab regimes. Moreover, America is regarded
in their
eyes as controlling and contaminating the holy places of Islam -
particularly those in Saudi-Arabia - through the presence of
military
personnel there and in other countries in the Persian Gulf since
the Gulf
war in 1991. America also is condemned by Bin laden for its
support of
Israel, which he regards as the "arrowhead in the heart of
the Islamic
world," which must be rooted out and destroyed.
American president George W. Bush has declared war on the
perpetrators of
the attacks. And yet, in reality, this war was already declared
years ago by
Islamic fundamentalist organizations. The attacks of "Black
Tuesday" were
merely the latest, and most terrible, escalation in this ongoing
war. And
although Osama bin Laden crossed the Rubicon with these attacks,
carrying
them out is not, in and of itself, his true goal. Bin Laden sees
himself as
the leader of the Islamic fundamentalist world. As such, he sees
it as his
duty to expand by conquest the portion of the world ruled by
Islam, until
all the world will be under the rule of Sharia (Islamic Law).
The attacks in New York and Washington are therefore no more then
a warning
to the United States and the Western world - a warning meant to
terrorize
these countries so much that they will not stand in the way of
fundamentalist Islamic organizations as they expand their sphere
of
control. This warning is very clear: it is a warning of further
things to
come.
Military retaliation against bin Laden and his supporters is
therefore
necessary, but not sufficient. Even more important is to
establish
fundamental premises, which will, once and for all, create the
necessary
tools for real and effective international cooperation against
terrorism. These tools should include a basic moral principle
that the
deliberate targeting of civilians for the purposes of achieving
political
aims - in other words, terrorism - is never justified or
legitimate,
regardless of the goals or grievances of the perpetrators. This
principle
must be enshrined in international legislation and convention.
Then, based
on this principle, all sane states must declare and accept that
counter-terrorism is the primary interest for all states, beyond
any other
economic, political or ideological interest.
Based on these two fundamental premises - the correct definition
of
terrorism and its complete denunciation, and primacy of the fight
against
terrorism above other international interests - the civilized
world must
establish international legislation and conventions to deepen
international
cooperation in counter-terrorism. Such legislation should make it
incumbent
on all nations to comply with counter-terrorism efforts against
terrorist
organizations and the states that support them. Essential to
international
cooperation against terrorist organizations is cooperation in:
* Counter-terrorist intelligence - interception, warnings and
offensive
intelligence;
* Economic counter-terrorism - blocking the financing of
terrorist
organizations, preventing them from raising, transferring and
laundering
money;
* Political counter-terrorism - recognition that all terrorist
organizations
have concrete political or ideological aims. It must thus be made
clear
these organization that the use of terrorism will endanger their
ultimate
goals;
* Offensive counter-terrorism - the creation of elite
international
counter-terrorism units, which will help states who find
themselves under
terrorist attack to defend themselves;
* Technological counter-terrorism - the development of
cooperative
intelligence, offensive and defensive counter-terrorism
technologies.
All states that initiate terrorist attacks, execute attacks by
proxy, or
provide ideological, economic, military or operational support to
terrorist
organizations, must be identified and branded as state sponsors
of
terrorism. This must include states that provide terrorists with
safe havens
and refuse to extradite them; along with states which allow
terrorists and
their supporters to recruit activists and collect money within
their
territory, or to incite others to commit terrorist acts or to
support
terrorist activity. Based on the above premises, the
international community
must declare an economic embargo on all such states and their
economic
interests, both private and public. A secondary boycott should be
declared
on states and companies that do not respect these sanctions.
The premises above must therefore to be accepted by all sane
states-whether
Western or Third World states-in order to prevent further
terrorist
atrocities and a sure deterioration in world stability.
International
acceptance of these premises-and the counter-terrorism measures
that will be
based on them-may be the only way to prevent further outrages
such as those
seen in New York and Washington on "Black Tuesday."
Copyright 2001, International Policy Institute for
Counter-Terrorism
=============
(10) CATASTROPHE/APOCALYPSE COURSE AT BARD COLLEGE
>From Benny J Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk>
"Catastrophe/Apocalypse" is a course being given every
fall at Bard College
by Prof. William Mullen. Bill and his students have set up a
website
featuring this innovative course about
"cenocatastrophism" and would
appreciate feedback and suggestions by CCNet readers on how the
course might
be improved. They would also like to hear from others involved in
similar
courses elsewhere. Please feel free to send your comments and
suggestions to
mullen@bard.edu
FULL COURSE DETAILS at: http://inside.bard.edu/specialproj/clas214
CONCEPT
It would be hard to find a culture that has no cosmic
catastrophes in its
sacred narratives: deluges, combats in the sky, universal
conflagrations.
Usually the sacred traditions speak of these catastrophes as in
the past,
whether at the beginning of the world or in human memory.
Sometimes they are
also foretold for the future, and are then viewed
apocalyptically, as
ultimate revelations of a divine plan. Why do so many cultures
set these
stories and prophecies at the center of their traditional
thought?
"Catastrophe/Apocalypse" examines a range of
explanations and see how each
affects our evaluation of the works read. It places in the
foreground the
"catastrophist" reading, which assumes that massive
catastrophes have in
fact repeatedly recurred on the earth since human memory, and are
the
experience out of which the myths were made. But it also studies
how these
myths are reinterpreted by each generation which retells them in
the light
of its own experience, in different and usually calmer
environments. The
myths accrete new meanings as they are retold, and the task of
interpretation is to see the full range of meanings they are
asked to bear
from generation to generation.
STRUCTURE
"Catastrophe/Apocalypse begins with a three-week
introduction to
catastrophism as a scientific paradigm-- its 19th century battle
with
uniformitarianism, and its return to respectability in the last
decades of
the 20th century, when mainstream science incorporated the
Alvarez
hypothesis that the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other
species at
the end of the Cretaceous was caused by the impact of a giant
asteroid. It
reviews the long history of proto-scientific catastrophist
thinkers (as
opposed to traditional tellers of "myths"), moving from
such pre-Socratic
philosophers as Xenophanes, Heraclitus and Democritus down to
independent
thinkers of the Renaisance and Enlightenment such as Bruno,
Whiston and
Boulanger. And it surveys the various terms by which recent
writers have
tried to bring out this or that essential role they see
catastrophes as
playing in larger paradigms of thought: "punctuated
equilibrium",
"quantavolution", "coherent catastrophism",
"cenocatastrophism".
Major types of catastrophic myth are also studied in these
opening weeks:
deluges, conflagrations, combats in the sky. Stress is placed on
reading a
large number of myths, excerpted from their cultural contexts for
the sake
of establishing their independent emergence all around the globe
and of
making a preliminary survey of recurrent themes and motifs.
In the main body of the course six cultures are then studied in
depth:
Mesopotamian, Greek, Egyptian, Judaeo-Christian, Mayan and Norse.
In each
cultural block the principal traditional texts are read with a
variety of
interpretive strategies, grouped loosely under four rubrics:
U (Uniformitarian): No real massive catastrophes ever actually
occurred and
the descriptions of them have to be accounted for by some other
way than
assuming that they did.
C (Catastrophist): Massive catastrophes occurred and the
assumption that
that is the case is crucial to understanding the kinds of
meanings the
stories about them had accreted by the time the texts were put in
writing.
B (Both): The texts will reflect both the catastrophic events
that
originated them and later periods of environmental stability and
calm during
which those texts were rethought and transformed.
N (Neither): There are a whole set of things that may be said
about how the
texts work irrespective of whether massive catastrophes actually
occurred to
originate them (e.g. the narrative logic of a text, or the way it
came to
function in its society).
In both of the two papers students write on texts from these six
cultures
they are asked to keep all four approaches-- U, C, B and N-- in
mind.
The last week of class is given over to the effort to see how a
catastrophist approach to ancient myths might make us rethink the
psychology
of homo sapiens as a whole. Detailed consideration is given to
Alfred
deGrazia's theory that what is distinctively human was mutated in
a sudden
gestalt, under catastrophic circumstances, out of earlier hominid
behavior,
and to Gunnar Heinsohn's meditations on the relationship of
humanity's
experience of past catastrophes to the apocalyptic mindset with
which so
many human beings-- secular as well as religious,
environmentalist as well
as fundamentalist-- approach the problems of the future.
HISTORY
Catastrophism, defined as the postulation of massive catastrophes
of global
extent to explain the geological and biological record of the
earth's past,
has once more become respectable, even mainstream, ever since the
early
1980's when scientists started taking seriously the Alvarez
hypothesis that
the demise of the dinosaurs was caused by an asteroid impact (the
so-called
Cretaceous/Tertiary Extinction Event). The possibility that such
impacts
could occur during the flourishing of homo sapiens is also
assumed by
current efforts to develop a technology to monitor and deflect
NEO's (near
earth objects) in the future. The question then arises: if such
events
occurred in the pre-human past, and are foreseeable in the human
future,
what is the evidence that they have already occurred within human
memory?
One of the goals of "Catastrophe/Apocalypse" is to show
how many earlier
generations of rational thinkers have attempted to answer that
question.
Another goal is to keep abreast of the most recent and
sophisticated
answers, so as to show that "cenocatastrophism" (the
postulation of global
catastrophes within human memory) can be seen in the context of
other
mainstream scientific endeavors. To this end the course materials
include
active e-mail lists such as the Cambridge Conference Network at
b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk;
websites connected to catastrophist societies and journals such
as
http://www.knowledge.co.uk/sis/;
essays online such as Trevor Palmer's "The Fall and Rise of
Catastrophism"
(http://science.ntu.ac.uk/life/staff/tp/fallc.htm);
recent CD-roms with back issues of catastrophist journals such as
Catastrophism! Man, Myth, and Mayhem (Version 1.0, Sept. 1999).
Prof. Mullen first gave the course in Fall 1999. By professional
training he
is a classicist who has written on ancient Greek poetry and on
the American
Founding Fathers' use of Roman precedents. He has studied at
Harvard (B.A.
1968) and Univ. of Texas (Ph. D. 1972), and taught at Berkeley,
Boston
University, St. John's College, and, since 1985, Bard College.
His work in
catastrophism dates from the early 1970's, when he was a
contributing editor
of Pensée Magazine. Among his most recent publications is
"The Agenda of the
Milesian School: The Post-Catastrophic Paradigm Shift in Ancient
Greece", in
Natural Catastrophes during Bronze Age Civilisations, ed. Benny
Peiser,
Trevor Palmer, and Mark E. Bailey (Archaeopress, Oxford, 1998),
which forms
part of a larger project entitled Catastrophism and the Axial
Age. He gives
"Catastrophe/Apocalypse" every fall at Bard College in
the Classical Studies
Program.
============================
* LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR *
============================
(11) ARTHUR C CLARKE ON TERRORIST ATTACKS: "NEVER EVER GIVE
UP!"
>From Roger Launius <rlaunius@hq.nasa.gov>
Greetings All:
In the aftermath of the horrific events of the past week I
thought you would
appreciate the words of Sir Arthur C. Clarke, written to the
world just
after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Sincerely,
Roger D. Launius
NASA Chief Historian
_____________
Like most of the world, I watched with horror and disbelief the
unfolding
events of Black Tuesday: local networks gave BBC and CNN coverage
for hours.
I, and all my associates, would like to send our deepest sympathy
to those
directly or indirectly involvedwhich by now must mean almost
everybody. And
we appreciate the e-mail messages we have received from many
friends in the
areas affected, reassuring us of their safety.
It has been said that every catastrophe is an opportunity and one
can only
hope that this atrocity will unite the whole world in an effort
to stamp out
those responsible.
Meanwhile, life must go on. To quote the words of the greatest
Anglo-American of the last century, Winston Churchill:
"Never give up--never
give up--never EVER give up!"
Sir Arthur C. Clarke
12 September 2001
===============
(12) TERRORIST ACTS WILL UNITE WORLD
>From Sergio German Wagner Stinco <sergiowagner@yahoo.com>
Dear Dr. Peiser
I'm a subscriber from Argentina to CCNet. I want to thank you for
your
coverage of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington,
D.C. The US is
not the only victim. The United States are
such a diverse society that there are families and friends
throughout the
world suffering right now. Eventually, USA will heal. They are
strong people
and determined to continue their way of life and the values that
they hold
dearly -- freedom.
The terrorists have had their terrible moment, but they will not
sway the
world to their cause. In fact, they will probably achieve just
the opposite.
Their horrible actions will unite the world, rather than divide
it.
We truly marvel at the outpouring of worldwide support. It proves
that one
person can make a difference. You and your Network make this a
better world
when you speak out against terror. May the civilized world remain
safe and
secure.
Thank you for your support and your prayers.
Sergio German S. Wagner, S.S.E.
Examenes de la Costa Science Workshop- CUMBRE Multimedia
The Planetary Society Coordinator,Argentina
stinco@teacher.com
sergiowagner@yahoo.com
www.geocities.com/sergiostinco
http://resumes.yahoo.com/sergiowagner/resumeofsergiowagner
===============
(13) SOLEMN TIMES AND RENEWED VOGOR
>From Andy Smith <astrosafe@yahoo.com>
Hello Benny and the CCNet,
We are all still adjusting to the shocks of last week and the
great tragic
events, in New York and Virginia. Thanks for your thoughts and
expressions,
on the CCNet.
The CCNet is many good things. First, it is probably the most
important
technical forum in the history of the human race. It is the most
important
forum because it brings togeather the international community of
experts who
are all fully aware of the dangers and the disturbingly high
risks
associated with asteroid or comet impact on our planet....and it
gives us
the
opportunity for a daily dialogue.
Our Responsibility
Our CCNet group is relatively small and much of our knowledge is
relatively
new, but we occupy a unique place in the World. Our knowledge
places a
tremendous burden of responsibility upon us....to inform others,
to act to
bring-about more governmental support and to work to prepare to
prevent the
next impact, if possible, and to survive it, if we must.
The smallest Near-Earth Object (NEO) on our 10-step
asteroid/comet emergency
(ACE) scale is the 50 meter Tunguska or Barringer asteroid or
comet. It has
a destructive energy level of about 20 million tons of TNT. The
alarmingly
high annual risk of this impact is about 1 in 100. If it were to
hit near
New York City or Los Angeles or Tokyo or Chicago or London or any
one of
more than a hundred metropolitan areas, in the World, it would
totally
destroy everything and everyone. The population in the New York
area is now
more than 16 million people....and they are all likely to be
victims.
We know what we need to do to prepare and both the technology and
the
hardware are on-the-shelf. What we lack is adequate governmental
support and
the very modest funding required......perhaps $15 million a year,
to
adequately fund the 6 dedicated and presently active asteroid
search teams;
$150 million or so to fund the equipment and operation of the
large (8
meter/30K x 30K mosaic CCD) asteroid search telescope (LAST) for
at least a
decade; a good world team-effort to plan a quick-response
deflection system
(using available sub-systems) and a good civil emergency
preparedness
program.
Lest We Forget
As we pray and cry for the people in the Manhattan and Pentagon
disasters,
let us re-dedicate ourselves to doing all we can, while there is
still time,
to prevent this cataclysmic impact event. The one thing we know,
with
certainty, is that the rock, with our name on it, is on the way.
Chancellor
Clarke has been reminding us of this for many decades and he is
right. The
sky is falling.
Please Keep Up The Good Work
Again, we want to thank all of those, in our group, who are
working,
tirelessly, to help with this cause. We are trying to get more
support for
you, more recognition of the value of your work, in the key
offices of the
governments of the World, and increased funding, from both
government and
private sources. Let's hope and pray we will have the time we
need to
do the work that must be done.
The Jury
The second big value, in our network, is that we stand as a
silent jury and
watch our leaders and measure their adequacy to recognize and
prepare to
meet this alarming and inevitable emergency. Because of our
special
awareness, we should communicate with world leaders, individually
(as many
of us do) and collectively (as we could, using the CCNet).
It is this collective role that we are now addressing. We want to
urge Benny
to prepare a policy statement (of concern), which we can review
(using the
Net) and endorse and send to the national leaders, around the
World...it
would outline the problem and make recommendations for action.
We feel such action is important, now, because so many key
leaders (and
their staffs) are just not aware of the facts and the needs and
the urgency.
We appreciate, very much, the recognition by Jens Kieffer-Olsen
(CCNet 14
September), of the need to treat this situation as a clear and
present
emergency situation and we urge everyone to keep up the good work
and to
press, at all levels, for support and funding.
Cheers.....Andy Smith
===============
(14) NATURE ISN'T MALICIOUS, BUT SHE'S A TRICKY LITTLE DEVIL
>From David Fisher <dfisher@miami.edu>
Dear Benny,
I'd like to point out a critical and often misunderstood point in
Michael
Paine's analysis of the scientific process, when he says:
"It does not
matter who you are or how important you think your idea is--if it
is
contradicted by the evidence, it is wrong."
First, you have to be sure that the "evidence" is
correct. For example, the
first experiment to test special relativity showed that the
theory was
wrong; the experiment, as it turned out, was flawed. And Kelvin's
"evidence"
in the form of cooling calculations showed that the earth
couldn't be as old
as the evolutionists wanted.
So you have to be careful. Nature isn't malicious, but she's a
tricky little
devil. As Louis Pasteur said, "It's easy to do experiments,
but hard to do
them flawlessly."
david fisher
univ miami
=============
(15) TECHNOLOGY & AIRCRAFT SAFETY
>From James D. Perry <AJDPerry@aol.com
[mailto:AJDPerry@aol.com >
Dear Benny,
Paul Davies' "simple solution" is not so simple.
Landing an airplane
involves much more than putting down the landing gear and flaps,
assuming a
landing airspeed and attitude and then touching down. It requires
sequencing
with other aircraft that can begin several hundreds of miles from
the
destination that may require heading, altitude, and airspeed
changes
(usually in combination) to allow a smooth flow of airplanes to
the airport,
and ultimately, to the runway. Those auto-land capabilities are
even used on
our aircraft carriers, but the plane has to be marshaled into the
landing
sequence and someone has to control that.
The auto-land feature is called a 'coupled' landing: you fly the
airplane to
a set place where you 'capture' a landing signal (i.e., make
certain the
plane has the correct signal and, yes, it is possible to capture
a side-lobe
and be off by 30-45 degrees, so it is good to have a pilot in the
loop
before you let the autopilot land the plane). A flight
director gives
steering instructions to the pilot to keep him on course and
glidepath until
100 feet or so above the intended touchdown and hopefully from
there he can
find the runway and execute the landing.
I read a letter in the Washington Post over the weekend where
someone
recommended depressurizing the plane. The crew can put on
oxygen masks and
at 35,000 feet the time of useful consciousness (TUC) is in the
range of
10-15 seconds when one doesn't have oxygen at hand -- that would
mean they
would be unconscious pretty quickly. Problem is, those
little yellow masks
would automatically deploy when a cabin is depressurized and that
would be a
pretty good signal to the hijackers that they ought to put one on
-- if they
paid attention during the pretakeoff safety
briefings.
Hermann Burchard argues that encryption would probably prevent
hackers from
interfering with the solution proposed in DIE WELT (remotely
flying hijacked
planes by telemetry). I will only observe that American civilian
airliners
are indispensable to military operations. During Desert Shield,
for example,
the Civil Reserve Air Fleet flew some 400,000 troops to Saudi
Arabia. This
has several implications. The ability to hack into any
telemetry-based
system would be a top priority for foreign nations that wished to
cripple
our power projection capabilities. Encryption might be difficult
to defeat,
but the reward for success would be tremendous -- this, by
itself, could win
the war for them. Even a credible demonstration of such a
capability (say,
by crashing one plane) could be used to deter U.S. military
action or to
coerce America politically. Therefore, the U.S. military would
doubtless
strenuously oppose such a system, because they could never be
absolutely
sure that the system was tamper-proof. In short, why give enemies
and
terrorists one more potentially huge vulnerability to exploit?
My simple, inexpensive, hacker-proof solution is to give the
pilot a large
caliber, slow muzzle velocity handgun with hollow-point
bullets. Those
would do quite well at taking down the perpetrators without
punching holes
in the cabin. Another simple solution would be a sawed off
shotgun that
would greet anyone entering the cockpit uninvited.
Sincerely,
James D. Perry
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